ASSISTED LIVING FOR ELDERLY LOVED ONES

How to Tailor Assisted Living to Your Needs

Making the move to an assisted living facility can feel like a huge jump for many men and women, but that doesn’t mean that it needs to be uncomfortable, scary or even that much different than living in your home.

In fact, if you’re careful about your decision when it comes to picking an assisted living facility, you might find that you feel much more secure and comfortable in your new home. However, you’ll need to do your homework to find the right place for you.

Visit the Facility

Before you even consider moving into an assisted living facility you need set up a visit with your family or loved ones so you can see the grounds, personal rooms, and common rooms in person.

Visiting the facility before you do anything will allow you to meet the staff and see what day-to-day life is like for the residents of the facility.

Many assisted living facilities give unannounced tours throughout the day on business days, and an unannounced visit can give you a better glimpse into what life is like there on an average day.

Creature Comforts

Creature comforts are important to many people, and for a lot of seniors that move into assisted living facilities, the ability to bring furniture from home can make their new apartment within the facility much more comfortable.

While not all assisted living facilities allow residents to bring their own furniture, many do provide certain basic pieces like a bed frame, dresser and table, while allowing residents to fill in empty spaces with their own pieces, like favorite lounge chair, for example.

Ask about what you can and can’t bring to an assisted living facility to make sure you’ll be as comfortable as possible in your new space.

Personalize Your Space

Whether you bring your own furniture to your apartment or simply use the furniture provided by the facility, personalizing the space you’re living in can make the transition much more comfortable.

Pictures of friends, family and loved ones are an excellent way to personalize your space, as well as items that you’ve collected over the years – things you picked up on vacation, collectibles, books anything really that has some sort of sentimental value or a memory attached to it.

Protect Your Valuables

While most assisted living facilities have security on premises to keep residents safe from outsiders, it’s never a bad idea to protect your valuables.

You probably have a place where you keep items like your social security card, jewelry, family heirlooms and personal records in your home now, so why wouldn’t you have one in your new space?

In order to protect your valuables, you should consider buying a small safe that you can keep in your closet or in out-of-the-way location. There are all different sizes and variations in safes, so whatever you need to protect, there’s a size that will work for you.

Along with different sizes, there are also different ways to open the safe, so you don’t have to worry about forgetting the code or losing the key, especially with many affordable safes on the market allowing access through fingerprints. Buying a safe that opens only with your fingerprint means that you’re the only one that can open it.

Take Your Time

When you’re looking for an assisted facility to transition from living on your own or with family, you want to find a safe and secure environment. Taking your time to do your research is essential.

Visiting the facility and asking questions on your first visit is important, but you need to take time to mull your decision over to make sure it is the right one for you.

After all, moving is stressful, and you don’t want to do it more than you have to.

If you aren’t sure about an assisted living facility after you visit the first time, keep looking for other alternatives in the area until you find a place that feels like the right match for you.

Visit more than once, and don’t be afraid to ask questions, no matter how small or unimportant they might seem at the time.

Author Bio: Marcela De Vivo is a mother of three and loving daughter. She recently helped her mother through the process of finding a comfortable assisted living facility including scouting locations, purchasing furniture, and a wall safe.